Guest Post: What’s in iOS 8 that is good for developers

Apple’s iOS 8 was unveiled on June 2nd [2014] by Apple at the 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) where its first beta version was shared with developers. Less than three weeks after its public appearance, the company has since released a new iOS 8 beta version 2. Apple iPhone owners from across the globe are keeping their fingers crossed in anticipation of the official release. Meanwhile software developers and testers are enjoying a free-spirited run toying with the eagerly-awaited new version of the iOS. So what’s in the iOS that is great for developers? I’ll take a look below.

Revamped widgets

The guys at Apple have reworked their definition of widgets that seem more like what Android users have on their devices.

The eBay widget example given by Craig Federighi at the WWDC keynote is perhaps the most exciting things to be seen in the upcoming iOS version.

The widget wasn’t exactly displayed on the Home screen, but was actually part of the notification pane – inspired by Android should we say?

Interactive notifications

Another Droid-inspired feature is that iOS 8 gets interactive notifications for the first time in its neat history.

However, it must be noted that Apple’s notification system is much more advanced than that available in Android.

For instance, iOS 8′s notifications will allow real actions from the notification itself without leaving the currently open application.

This is one area where even Android’s developers didn’t make any significant strides in innovation!

Get ready for a little customisation

iOS 8 is believed to accept third party apps for input method, such as keyboards.

This means popular third party keyboard app developers like SwiftKey and Swype could finally make their way into the Apple iOS SDK.

It is interesting to see Apple giving a little latitude to mobile app developers and allowing newer ways other than its stock service for input methods. All developers should say thanks now.

iMessage gets smarter

The Apple developers have added some pretty darn good additions this time it seems.

The iMessage now supports self destructing audio and video messages, while the group chat experience has been revamped as well.

Users can now leave a conversation, share their current location with the group chat members and decide when to turn off the chat feature.

Hence, this should perhaps inspire application developers of popular messaging services like Snapchat and Blink to revamp their apps

The official release date for iOS 8 is currently [July 2014] still due, but it has captured the attention of iPhone users across the globe.

Not just users, developers who haven’t yet got their hands on the new iOS 8 are quite excited to see what the new version has in store for them.

Author Biog

This Guest Post has been contributed by Vijay Gaur who is currently working as senior associate for internet marketing with Moability, a company providing iPhone application development services.

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